Truth is that for a while now, Apple seems more interested in securing its status quo in the smartphone and tablet market by making use of the justice (which the taxpayers expect to occupy on more important things, I presume) than through the innovation that the firm seems to have lost in time. How long since you were really excited by one of its keynotes with a breathtaking feature?

I agree that companies should protect their intellectual property. There is no dispute in this regard. But when you claim intellectual property over a rectangle (which has existed since the dawn of time) or an array of icons (which Apple borrowed from Xerox back in 1979), things are not going well. Technology, not the obvious, should get a patent.

At the same time, the competition (mainly Android) is not risking too much in the evolution of its operating system either. Yes, it is getting nicer and more responsive (I suppose that the quad core CPU may have a say here) but I'm starting to get tired of waiting for real innovations in the field of efficiency, for example (when you look at the battery capacity at one hand, and its duration on the other, you don't want but mourn). And I'm not pointing to any particular brand ... all seem to have agreed in this regard.

And amid all this, some manufacturers proudly issuing pompous press releases for being "the first" to get an update to Jelly Bean 4.2.. What the hell! That must be the norm!! When will Android get updated directly from the project's git repository? Manufacturers and carriers must be forced to publish its garbage in Google Play for everyone to download (and uninstall).

Only Microsoft seems to take some risks (they must do something, isn't it?), with a different user interface paradigm both for their phones and desktop computers. Time will prove them right or not (I'm a little bit skeptical about it). At least, Microsoft's RT strategy will put some push on Intel, who's already feeling the breath of ARM (I say, these are innovators).

At the end, we end up with an unattractive Christmas season, with plenty of smartphones of all price and colors that -more or less- do the same. Competition does not always equal to innovation when the market is being ruled over.

My God! how I wish that someone drops something really amazing during the next MWC 2013 (it will not be Nokia, I'm afraid). My geek soul is attending a commoditization of the industry that I'm getting lazy to follow. Death to the good enough !!